


Data Collection

by ShinySherlock ficlets (ShinySherlock)



Series: assorted tumblr ficlets [53]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - In Storybrooke | Cursed, Biology, F/F, First Meetings, Martial Arts, Pre-Slash, Sleeping Warrior, Storybrooke, entirely too adorable lynx cubs, what if Aurora and Mulan met in Storybrooke before Regina's curse was broken?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 09:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7502859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShinySherlock/pseuds/ShinySherlock%20ficlets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This woman seems to draw power from the earth. She looks normal enough--straight, dark hair in a short ponytail, workout clothes, baseball cap--but her body is a study in contrasts. Her fine, almost delicate features are set in fierce determination. Her light brown fingers are long and graceful, yet Dawn can see the strength in them as well as the woman moves her body in the first light of day.</p><p>She is beautiful. She is enchanting. She is going to ruin everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Data Collection

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Saathi1013](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saathi1013/gifts).



> saathi1013 requested: "Ficlet: Sleeping Warrior (Aurora/Mulan) -- what if they'd been caught in the original curse from s1 and met in Storybrooke instead?" So, here is the first time they meet, before Regina's curse is broken.

She’s been out here ensconced amid the spruce and fir since 4 a.m. and can no longer feel her butt, the ground is so cold. The sun is rising, and if she’s very, very lucky, today is the day the lynx cubs will emerge from their den. She tracked their mother here two months ago to the day, and Dawn has no intention of missing out on the chance to count the cubs and observe their behavior.

The grey-green parka is doing its job to keep her torso warm, but she wishes she’d remembered her beanie; her golden brown hair is twisted up in a messy knot, leaving her ears subject to the morning cold.

Yeah. A beanie would be nice. And she wouldn’t say no to some cocoa right about now either. Dawn’s gaze drifts as she imagines being back in her warm cabin with her three crazy aunts fussing over her (and bickering with each other) and mostly listening to her latest discoveries of the bioclimatology of Storybrooke.

She shakes her head, coming back to the present, and her vision focuses.

In the clearing to the left of the lynx den, a figure is moving. A slender woman in a grey hoodie and black pants makes slow, methodical movements, her arms sweeping in careful arcs. Though Dawn suspects the woman is practicing a form of t’ai chi, it reminds Dawn of something else, of the way she herself would disappear into the woods and dance, as she had since she was a child. She would come and listen, the songs and sounds of the forest animals the only melody she needed as she felt the rhythms of the earth through her bare feet.

This woman seems to draw power from the earth. She looks normal enough--straight, dark hair in a short ponytail, workout clothes, baseball cap--but her body is a study in contrasts. Her fine, almost delicate features are set in fierce determination. Her light brown fingers are long and graceful, yet Dawn can see the strength in them as well as the woman moves her body in the first light of day.

She is beautiful. She is enchanting. She is going to ruin everything.

Dawn glances over at the den--no activity yet, but there’s no telling if this woman’s presence has already scared the mother lynx into keeping her cubs inside for another day. If Dawn moves, or makes a noise to get the woman’s attention, that might make matters even worse.

Or if the woman were to begin speeding up her movements. Or if she were, as she is doing right now, to take up a staff and begin lunging with it, looking for all the world as though she’s about to lay siege--that would definitely make matters worse.

Dawn scrunches up her face, unsure of what to do but fully certain that all possibility of lynx observation has vaporized in the morning haze. She kneels up, revealing herself from her perfect hiding place, and, without thinking, hurls a pebble at the woman.

Okay. Maybe a small rock.

Well. A small _ish_ rock.

It strikes the woman on her upper arm and her head turns, her eyes zeroing in on Dawn in an instant. Dawn makes a frantic ‘come here’ motion, hand flapping and face pinching up like an irate schoolmarm. The woman frowns at her, but begins walking towards Dawn. She moves surprisingly silently.

Dawn stands her ground--sort of, anyway, as she is still kneeling--as the woman comes around behind her carefully constructed blind. Hooking a finger and motioning for the woman to come down to her level, Dawn is rather surprised when she assents, crouching down into the brush. Dawn can see her dark brown eyes clearly now, reading the mixture of irritation and curiosity there. She puts a finger to her lips and then points at the view space she had made in the blind, perfectly framing the lynx den.

Wary but willing, the woman rocks forward onto her knees to take a look--and her eyes widen. Dawn scoots closer to her, pressing to her side so that she may see, too, and there, just at the mouth of the den, she sees two cautious, black-tufted ears poking out. The mother lynx appears, and then, only a step behind her elegant form, out comes a fuzzball with disproportionately long legs and enormous feet.

Dawn feels tears sting her eyes, and quite without thinking she grasps the woman’s hand in her own, suddenly grateful to have another person with her to witness this, to share this moment with her. The woman seems equally affected, enthralled by the animals as another cub, and another cub, emerge. The women watch in silence as mother and cubs begin their explorations, and their eyes follow them until they disappear, off into the forest.

Dawn sinks back, sitting on her rear end for a moment. It takes her a few beats to realize she is still holding the woman’s hand.

She lets go with a flutterly apology. “Sorry!” she whispers.

The woman shrugs.

“And sorry about the rock,” Dawn adds, embarrassed now by her behavior.

Another shrug.

“I’m Dawn. Dawn Traum, I’m a biologist.”

The woman gives her a half smile. “I figured.” Her voice is light, and there’s a twinkle in her eye. “You staying until they come back?”

Dawn glances up at the little flag she’s tied to the top of her blind. “Better not. Wind’s changing.” She rolls her eyes. “Plus, I’ve been out here for three hours already and I’m dying for a mocha.”

The woman lets out a quiet laugh.

“What?”

She lifts a shoulder. “You’d never make it in the Army is all,” she answers, not unkindly, and for the first time Dawn notices the woman’s cap, the insignia. She’d thrown a rock at an Army veteran. The mortification must show on her face because the woman laughs at her again as she stands up and reaches out her hand.

“Come on, princess,” she says, and Dawn gives a crooked smile as she takes the woman’s hand. “Grab your gear and you can buy me a drink to assuage your guilt.”

The woman pulls her up to standing easily--she is remarkably strong--and Dawn can feel herself blushing. She shakes it off. “Okay.”

She grabs her backpack and pulls it on and looks over to the woman, who stands ready.

“Who are you, anyway?”

“Captain Magnolia Zhànshì,” she answers. “But you can call me Maggie.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was soooo fun to write. Picking names especially! One meaning of Aurora is dawn, and "traum" is the German word for "dream." Wikipedia told me Mulan means "magnolia", and google translate said "warrior" in Chinese is "zhànshì". But then what occupations would they have in Storybrooke? I was working mostly with the Disney versions of these two characters, so I gave Aurora/Dawn an earthy, animal-focused profession (bioclimatology) because of the "Once Upon A Dream" sequence in the film. I wanted to maintain Mulan/Maggie's heritage and military experience, so I made her a Chinese-American Army veteran (she's not on active duty anymore) and my headcanon is that she runs a gym that teaches kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and self-defense. Aurora/Dawn lives in a cabin (in the woods but near town) with her aunts, and Mulan lives with her elderly parents, etc. Like I said, so much fun! Not sure how much time I can put into writing more, so if you want to take some of this and write your own fic, please go for it! Just let me know (here or on tumblr) so I can read it! :)


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